Privacy at Harvard? NOT Likely!
Nov 6, 2014 11:34:51 GMT -6
adjensen, sheepslayer, and 1 more like this
Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2014 11:34:51 GMT -6
So..How would you feel if you learned that you'd been secretly photographed for a covert study done within your school or college? Secretly photographed in class, not in a private area like a locker room, but still photographed for study and specific use of the images without your knowledge or consent?
Personally, I'd call it a terrible case of bad judgement and a serious breach of general expectations of respect and privacy. Harvard, apparently, called it just fine to do.
So how did a group being trained to become leaders in politics, business and industry take to being used this way? Well...you might guess and likely be right.
Source
Of course... The rights of the students are silly trivial things next to the importance of an attendance study. The trust given freely by each student, that they won't be used in a way they are not aware of....is of no matter or concern. Obviously.
The story does go on to note that the instructors were told and the pictures (snapped at a rate of one per MINUTE) were, we're assured, destroyed. Of course they were....right? After all, those running it have done nothing whatsoever to bring question to their honesty or ability to be completely candid when they should be......right?
I suppose even Harvard has some serious problems in their own communication of policy. As the story also mentions they not only adopted a recent Honor Code (above) but also picked up a brand new policy for privacy relating to electronic communications. Sounds like they may have given it the 'good 'ol college try', but that was found ...lacking some basic thing. Like, perhaps, common sense and decency?
Personally, I'd call it a terrible case of bad judgement and a serious breach of general expectations of respect and privacy. Harvard, apparently, called it just fine to do.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) -- Harvard University is under fire from faculty and students for secretly photographing about 2,000 undergraduates in 10 lecture halls last spring as part of a study on classroom attendance.
The experiment was disclosed at a faculty meeting Tuesday and first reported in The Harvard Crimson student newspaper.
The experiment was disclosed at a faculty meeting Tuesday and first reported in The Harvard Crimson student newspaper.
So how did a group being trained to become leaders in politics, business and industry take to being used this way? Well...you might guess and likely be right.
Brett Biebelberg, a junior involved in student government, called the study's secretive nature "strikingly hypocritical," given that the university recently adopted an honor code for the first time.
Students and teachers were not notified because researchers did not want to introduce potential bias into the study, Harvard administrators said. The cameras took pictures every minute and a computer program used them to count empty and occupied seats.
Students and teachers were not notified because researchers did not want to introduce potential bias into the study, Harvard administrators said. The cameras took pictures every minute and a computer program used them to count empty and occupied seats.
Of course... The rights of the students are silly trivial things next to the importance of an attendance study. The trust given freely by each student, that they won't be used in a way they are not aware of....is of no matter or concern. Obviously.
The story does go on to note that the instructors were told and the pictures (snapped at a rate of one per MINUTE) were, we're assured, destroyed. Of course they were....right? After all, those running it have done nothing whatsoever to bring question to their honesty or ability to be completely candid when they should be......right?
I suppose even Harvard has some serious problems in their own communication of policy. As the story also mentions they not only adopted a recent Honor Code (above) but also picked up a brand new policy for privacy relating to electronic communications. Sounds like they may have given it the 'good 'ol college try', but that was found ...lacking some basic thing. Like, perhaps, common sense and decency?
